Ischemic Preconditioning Protects Adult Rat Cardiomyocytes Against Necrosis but not Apoptosis, via Activation of PKG

The role of cyclic guanosine monophosphate (cGMP) dependent protein kinase (PKG) in necrotic and apoptotic pathways of many cell types is well established; however its role in the ischemic preconditioning (IPC) of cardiomyocytes is not clearly defined. In the current study, we assessed the hypothesis that PKG protects against cell death following ischemidreperfusion injury in myocytes subjected to IPC. Freshly isolated adult rat ventricular myocytes were subjected to IPC by incubating in ischemic buffer for 30 minutes (min) followed by incubation in normal medium for 30 min. Prolonged simulated ischemia (SI) was created by incubating myocytes in the ischemic buffer for 90 min and reoxygenation (RO) for 120 min in the normal medium. Necrosis was determined by trypan blue exclusion and apoptosis was assessed by TUNEL assay. IPC reduced necrosis as shown by significant decrease in trypan blue positive cells as compared to virgin non-preconditioned myocytes subjected to SI and RO alone (p\u3c.01). Similarly, the number of TUNEL positive myocytes following SI and 18 hrs of RO were significantly reduced in the IPC group. Treatment with PKG inhibitor, KT5832 (2pM) completely abolished the protection against necrosis by IPC. However, KT5832 failed to abolish the protective affect of IPC against apoptosis. Furthermore, myocytes infected with an adenoviral construct of PKG-la (1 x 1 o4 particles/cell) significantly reduced the number of trypan blue and TUNEL positive cells. These results suggest that the PKG signaling pathway plays an essential role in the preconditioning of myocytes against necrosis following SI / RO injury. Furthermore, while the overexpression of PKG protects myocytes against necrosis, as well as apoptosis, IPC may not induce a sufficient level of PKG during 18 hours of RO to induce protection against apoptosis

Making it work for me: beliefs about making a personal health record relevant and useable.

BACKGROUND: A Personal Health Record (PHR) is an electronic record that individuals use to manage and share their health information, e.g. data from their medical records and data collected by apps. However, engagement with their record can be low if people do not find it beneficial to their health, wellbeing or interactions with health and other services. We have explored the beliefs potential users have about a PHR, how it could be made personally relevant, and barriers to its use. METHODS: A qualitative design comprising eight focus groups, each with 6-8 participants. Groups included adults with long-term health conditions, young people, physically active adults, data experts, and members of the voluntary sector. Each group lasted 60-90 min, was audio recorded and transcribed verbatim. We analysed the data using thematic analysis to address the question "What are people's beliefs about making a Personal Health Record have relevance and impact?" RESULTS: We found four themes. Making it work for me is about how to encourage individuals to actively engage with their PHR. I control my information is about individuals deciding what to share and who to share it with. My concerns is about individuals' concerns about information security and if and how their information will be acted upon. Potential impact shows the potential benefits of a PHR such as increasing self-efficacy, uptake of health-protective behaviours, and professionals taking a more holistic approach to providing care and facilitating behaviour change. CONCLUSIONS: Our research shows the functionality that a PHR requires in order for people to engage with it. Interactive functions and integration with lifestyle and health apps are particularly important. A PHR could increase the effectiveness of behaviour change apps by specifying evidence-based behaviour change techniques that apps should incorporate. A PHR has the potential to increase health-protective behaviours and facilitate a more person-driven health and social care system. It could support patients to take responsibility for self-managing their health and treatment regimens, as well as helping patients to play a more active role when care transfers across boundaries of responsibility

Dia de los Muertos: In Memory of Jennifer Laude / Remembering Lost Beloveds / Honoring our Continued Survivance

This script documents the program for an event to commemorate the death of Filipina trans woman named Jennifer Laude by the hands of a U.S. military personnel, in Olongapo, Philippines. This murder was linked to the killing of a Native Hawaiian man named Kollin Elderts who was shot by a U.S. Federal Agent during the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation Summit, in Honolulu in 2011. The script is a ritual eulogy to make links of solidarity across communities who grieve because of the people they lost due to militarization of their lands. The script also presents Ashliana Hawelu-Fulgoni, the co-founder and Executive Director of Kulia Na Mamo, who spoke on the issues of mahuwahine and how they are impacted by militarization and military personnel

V-Day Pinay Hawaiʻi presents The Vagina Monologues: Speaking the Unspeakable in Order to Save Lives

This is a program booklet for a Hawaiʻi based Filipina version of Eve Ensler's Vagina Monologues. Through performance and monologues, the booklet documents the people and organizations who came together to produce and perform stories about Filipina women's experience and healing relationship with their vaginas as a result of histories of colonialism and migration to Hawaiʻi. This performance aimed to break the silence around the problem of domestic violence in the Filipino community, in Hawaiʻi and the Philippines

Urban Babaylan First Full Moon Gathering

This email message invites the first group of Filipina women who would form Urban Babaylan. The email message includes some of the values and intentions of the group. It provides a quote by Filipina poet Aimee Suzara on what the word "babaylan" means to this group and their gathering

A Herstory of Urban Babaylan

This essay describes the founding of Urban Babaylan, the culture of the group and their inspirations. It discusses their philosophies of community organizing as Filipinas in Honolulu, Hawaii during the Iraq War